DoPT final authority to decide on sanction to prosecute corrupt babus

The amended Act asked the central government to prescribe such guidelines as it considers necessary for sanctioning prosecution of a public servant.

The order was issued after changes were made last year in the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, officials said Thursday. (Representational image: IE)

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) will have a final say in case any central government department or Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) differs on granting sanction to prosecute corrupt babus, according to an official order. The order was issued after changes were made last year in the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, officials said Thursday.

The amended Act asked the central government to prescribe such guidelines as it considers necessary for sanctioning prosecution of a public servant. Following which the DoPT issued guidelines specifically to deal with disagreement between disciplinary authority (any central government department) and the CVC in cases of granting the prosecution sanction, they said.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) recommends sanction of prosecution of persons only in those cases in which they find sufficient justification for the same as a result of the investigation conducted by them. As per the guidelines, in cases where the CVC advises grant of sanction for prosecution but the ministry/department concerned proposes not to accept such advise, then the case should be referred to the DoPT, which is headed by Prime Minister, for final advice.

The cases, where the CVC declines sanction for prosecution but the ministry/department concerned proposes not to accept such advice, should also be referred to the DoPT for the final advice, it said. In cases where the CBI has sought sanction for prosecution and the CVC has recommended grant of sanction and yet the competent authority proposes not to grant the permission, then such cases should be decided by the DoPT and its decision would be final, the guidelines said.

According to CVC’s latest data, the sanction of prosecution is awaited for more than four months in 45 cases involving 98 allegedly corrupt government servants from different central and state government departments.